Austin was used to working here, but with her constant irrational demands, it wasn‟t easy to come to work. He glanced at Jackson. "You‟re handling her tomorrow!" he barked before he slammed his office door.

*********

After work, Austin took the horse-drawn buggy to his house.

It wasn‟t a mansion, but it was elegant in appearance. He prided himself on the way he kept the white two story home with blue

trim. The gardener did an excellent job trimming the shrubbery and trees. The grass was cut short. The inside of the house was

spotless and cared for by his maid and butler. Though he had six bedrooms, four bathrooms, two parlors, a large dining room, a kitchen, and a den, he rarely had visitors. He was content to stay by himself, but he enjoyed owning fine things and spared no

expense for his furnishings.

Mr. Williams stopped the buggy so he could get out."Clinton ," he told the taxi driver, "I‟m going to need to go to the board meeting tonight at seven. Can you have the buggy ready at 6:30?"

"Yes, sir," Clinton replied.

"Thank you."

He walked to his house which was similar to other houses in the area. He enjoyed the Virginia city life for things rarely got boring. There were plenty of things a single man could do without the headache of dragging a woman along with him. He wasn‟t opposed to women such as they were, but he had seen enough men lose their freedom to a wife. He was determined that such a fate would never happen to him. He had no intention of giving up his life of adventure.

"Good day, sir," his butler greeted as he opened the door.

"Good day, John. How is the misses doing?" Austin asked as he entered the house and took off his coat."Very well, sir. She is expecting any day now. The doctor

says she is doing well."

John Clifford was married to Mary , who was also the maid. When Austin hired them, they had just gotten married but had no means to support themselves, so Austin decided that he could use some help keeping up his house and gave them a job.

They resided in one of the two bedrooms on the lower level of the house, and their soon-to-be-born baby would be in the next

bedroom. Austin didn‟t mind the company they provided, though he kept his distance. He didn‟t believe in getting too close to

anyone.

Austin went to his den that was decorated with a bear‟s head and two deer heads, which he had mounted after hunting them.

He had various collectible items, such as cigar boxes he never opened and paintings that he had collected from Europe on his

travels. His den was his safe haven from the world. In it, he could relax and enjoy doing extra work he didn‟t have time to accomplish during business hours. The large fireplace and the two plush blue chairs that sat in front of it was his secret reading

place. The large oak desk contained his business documents which he kept in the top drawer on the right side. Other items in

the room included a globe of the world, a bookcase full of his books, and antiques from his travels. It was a man‟s room, with

walls that resembled a log cabin and oak flooring to give it a rustic atmosphere. No other room in his house was like it.

He sat at the desk and pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil. He would be leading the meeting that night since the president, Matthew Moore, decided he was too old to be attending the board meetings anymore. He wondered why Jackson wasn‟t

already in the president‟s position. He considered that his father wasn‟t too sure of Jackson ‟s competency. He realized Jackson

knew the job well enough, but did he have the leadership ability to run a bank?

Austin sighed. Such matters did not concern him. He had decided long ago that he would not work at that bank forever. He

had his sights set on opening his own bank as soon as Matthew officially retired. Something about Jackson bothered him, though he could never put his finger on it. He knew it was in his best interest to offer the people an alternative to the only bank that was currently in town. Competition was a good thing when it improved people‟s lives. He hated to agree with Claire Lewisville is, but he did often wonder how much Jackson cared for the customer.

Matthew was an honorable man, but would Jackson follow in his father‟s footsteps? Deep down, Austin seriously questioned

Jackson‟s professional ethics when his personal ethics were shoddy.

A light knocking on the door interrupted his thoughts.

"Enter," he called out.

Mary opened the door. "Dinner is ready, sir," she softly said.

He smiled. Her face glowed with the impending arrival of her child. "Are you sure you feel up to cooking these days? I can

always hire a temporary cook while you rest." He folded the piece of paper and put it in the breast pocket of his dark blue suit.

"Oh, I am feeling fine." He could tell that she appreciated his concern by the way she smiled. "I need something to do or

else I‟ll go crazy waiting for the little one to be born. It looks like he or she will be a Christmas baby."

"Just don‟t push yourself too hard. John worries about you."

"I know. He‟s a wonderful husband."

"And he‟ll make a good father."

Austin wasn‟t opposed to marriage or children for others. He just didn‟t wish those things for himself.

"Tonight‟s menu is rib eye steak, baked potato, and green beans," she informed him.

"No one makes steak like you do. John is a lucky man She blushed at his compliment.

"We both think the world of you, sir," she said.

"Well, I think of you two as the brother and sister I never had. But enough emotional talk. I‟m hungry."

After he ate dinner, he insisted that John and Mary take the rest of the night off so they could enjoy their remaining

moments alone before the little one arrived. He took Clinton‟s taxi to the bank and paid him the usual fare plus tip. A long time ago,

Henry offered to taxi him anywhere he wanted to go. "It‟s hard to find a man who tips as well you do, sir," he admitted. Since

Clinton was punctual and maintained a clean buggy and horse and dressed nicely, Austin was glad to have his services every time he

needed to go somewhere.

As soon as the five board members of the bank assembled into the backroom at the maple table, Austin began the meeting. He

knew he had to mention Claire Lewisville at the end of it.

"We need to figure out what we can do about her," he began. "She‟s not going to leave us alone until we foreclose or prevent a foreclosure. Are there any ideas?"

"Just foreclose," Jackson replied. "In three weeks, the Lewisville farm and house will be ours. Then she won‟t be a problem

anymore."

Jasper Tennyson spoke up. "Maybe we could work out an agreement where they could take another loan to get current on

their payments."

"But that will only delay foreclosure,"Jackson argued. "If they keep getting deeper into debt, how will they ever get out of

the mess they‟re in?"

"Actually, Jasper makes a good point," Austin intervened.

"The problems they are having are due to extraordinary circumstances. The boy‟s surgery and the hail and tornado are not

likely to happen again. It might even help if we could talk the hospital into settling for half the debt they owe.""Perhaps we can settle on some of their debts with us,"

Jasper added. "We won‟t be too bad off if we forgive some of the debt. At least it would keep them from sinking into the quicksand they‟re in."

"Are you crazy?" Jackson shook his head. "We won‟t make any profit if we do that."

"Not with the Lewisville family," Austin began, "but there are other customers who make us a suitable profit from their

investments."

"Then we‟ll have to do this for everyone else who comes to us with a sob story."

"I think people will understand that given the

circumstances the Lewisvilles find themselves in that we wouldn‟t offer everyone a break. We might even attract more loyal customers since people seem to like mercy.""I disagree. People need to know that they will be treated fairly. If other customers have to pay their full amount on a debt while someone else gets off with less, then there will be unfairness.""People can see that the Lewisvilles are hurting," jasper protested. "They will understand."

"Let‟s take a vote," Jake said. "All in favor of Jasper‟s proposal, say aye."

To his dismay, he and jasper were the only ones in favor of it.

"All opposed, say nay," he continued, already knowing that the other two members would agree with Jackson. Had Matthew been there, Jasper‟s idea would have succeeded since he would have voted to help Claire‟s family, and being the president, he would be the tie breaker.

He sighed and stood up. "That is all. This meeting is adjourned until next month." When he left the bank that night, he was in a sour mood. He thought Jasper had a good idea. When I open my own bank, Jasper will be the vice president.

**********

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